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It isn’t a secret that both Crunchyroll and Netflix are the biggest anime streaming platforms out there. Crunchyroll is the winner when it comes to library size, but their subscriber base (and the deep pockets that come with it) are absolutely dwarfed by Netflix, causing the two to settle into a kind of truce in the highly competitive world of streaming. However, for all their talk of cooperation and synergy, there is mounting evidence that the companies will (and already have) find themselves at odds.

According to a recent report, Crunchyroll and Netflix control around 80% of the international streaming market for anime, which is expected to grow to $12.5 billion by 2030. This would, in normal circumstances, put them on a collision course as they compete to have a bigger piece of that growing pie, but the two companies have positioned themselves to be more of uneasy allies than real competitors – publicly, at least.

The same report by Bernstein analysts states “We believe Crunchyroll and Netflix can coexist and both grow with the streaming anime market,” adding that the two “enjoy different advantages in the market.” Which is true. Netflix can’t compete with the sheer size of Crunchyroll’s anime library, which has been built on the principle of getting new episodes up as soon as they air in Japan to feed the international market’s desperate need for more anime. Likewise, Crunchyroll can’t compete with Netflix’s huge subscriber base, which hit 300 million in 2024. Compared to that, Crunchyroll’s goal of 25 million by the end of 2025 – which they are unlikely to hit without significant growth in Asia – seems almost quaint.

Instead of directly competing, the two companies have worked out a strange symbiotic relationship. Crunchyroll has licensed select seasons of their most popular shows like One Piece, Demon Slayer, and Naruto to Netflix, boosting the giant’s anime catalog while also providing Crunchyroll with cash it can use to license more shows directly from Japan – a process that is becoming more costly as competition grows in the market. If fans want more episodes of these shows or to find similar titles, they need to subscribe to Crunchyroll. Like any good dealer, Crunchyroll makes the first hit free – after that, you gotta sign up for more.

On the surface, we’d argue that Crunchyroll is getting the better end of this deal. They’re getting exposure to a huge audience without doing a lot of work. Most of the hardcore anime fans will have already seen the new season of Spy x Family long before it lands on Netflix, after all, but new fans who become hooked on the show can potentially subscribe to Crunchyroll when the next season drops.

“We believe it is actually good for anime and anime community that services [like Netflix] offer some anime and are introducing anime to fans,” Crunchyroll president Rahul Purini said in 2024 on Variety’s Strictly Business podcast. “We know our fans are there, and if we can get them to experience a show or experience anime, then some of them will come to Crunchyroll.”

This lines up well with what Terry Li, Crunchyroll’s Executive Vice President of Emerging Content, told us at NYCC 2024. “We have, you know, the deepest catalog there is, right, so for us… if you want to dive deep into anime, you can… Our offering isn’t meant to be a little bit of something for everyone, right? Our offering is we want to be, like, everything for someone. It goes much deeper.”

Sounds like paradise, right? Well, as is always the case in business, competition is fierce. As we saw last year, Netflix is starting to flex its muscles to get shows direct from Japan rather than waiting for Crunchyroll to share them. They carried big hits like Delicious in Dungeon worldwide and had new episodes of Dragon Ball Daima just a week after Crunchyroll. This year they are streaming the heavily hyped Sakamoto Days exclusively around the world. However, the biggest crack in the uneasy truce between Netflix and Crunchyroll came as both streamers carried Dan Da Dan as it aired in Japan.

The frustration seemed to be more harshly felt by Crunchyroll, who likely saw Dan Da Dan as a potential hit for them until Netflix snapped up the co-streaming rights. That explains reports that Crunchyroll pulled all marketing efforts from the show shortly before it aired due to the Netflix deal, regardless of how it impacted their relationship with Japanese studios and broadcasters.

Does this mean that the two companies will soon be at each other’s throats? No, but it does give us some insight into their increasingly strained relationship. As anime becomes more popular around the world, both Crunchyroll and Netflix still have some growing pains as they settle into their places as the top dogs in anime streaming. Will the larger subscriber base and deeper pockets of Netflix be more appealing to Japanese studios, or will the smaller but more dedicated fanbase of Crunchyroll win out? That is going to determine who ends up winning a larger slice of the international anime streaming market going forward.

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